COFFIN ROT – A Monument To The Dead

In 1986, Slayer pioneered a new unique sound, thrash in death’s convention, the sound countless emulators capitalized on later, the sound Slayer themselves lost, in 1998. With their debut album, this Oregonian quartet showcase compelling potential to resurrect the sound Slayer themselves vainly tried to regain until their recent wrap up. Coffin Rot, obviously inspired…

MORTIFERUM – Disgorged From Psychotic Depths

Much of what passes for doom/death metal these days is either fusion of Peaceville Trinity, Morrisound and old Swedish school or any combination of the three, supported by modern production, although, admittedly, more bands are recording in analog rather than digitally. This Washington-ian quartet debut to tip their scales in their favor, with mixed results.…

IRON AGE – The Sleeping Eye

The 1980s thrash metal era is one of the most respected and cherished periods among heavy metal maniacs. Bands such as Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer helped shape the thrash metal scene. Many attempted to tap into that vein in vain, but this Texan quintet makes a quite convincing case on the re-release of their 2nd…

BLUT AUS NORD – Hallucinogen

France’s mysterious Blut Aus Nord have been releasing quality atmospheric/ambient/avant-garde black metal since 1994 (the golden age of black metal), growing through various evolutions of sound and direction. Mostly known for their outstanding ‘Memoria Vetusta’ and ‘777’ trilogies, there have been a few adventurous missteps (2006’s ‘MoRT’ and 2007’s ‘Odinist’) but also some true successes…

ARX ATRATA – The Path Untravelled

In atmospheric black metal the emphasis can be on either atmospheric or black, but this one-man British band succesfully merged both aspects with equal strength at Emperor-ic level on this 2nd album, while adding a strong melodeath of 1999/2000 Dark Tranquillity, with excellent results. Arx Atrata’s sole member, a multinstrumentalist/vocalist, Ben Sizer, created the atmospheric…

FALLEN FOREST – Demo II

The Finnish duo named Fallen Forest, which is inspired by ancient nature and life, released their first limited-edition demo tape via the Lost Armor label not that many months ago, but it did not quite manage to capture my imagination or pique my interest that much.   However, this latest endeavor of theirs is much…

PATRICK HUMPHRIES – Rolling Stones 69

Numerous books on the timeless and seemingly never-ending rock ‘n’ roll institution that is the Rolling Stones have seen the light of day and the quality of them varies quite a bit. I am therefore utterly pleased to announce that “Rolling Stones 69” by skilled author Patrick Humphries is a splendid and hugely impressive piece…

JAN AKKERMAN – Close Beauty

This upcoming record by the legendary virtuoso Jan Akkerman is a highly anticipated one in that it has been eight years since he released his previous studio output, but I must admit that I had expected something a little more exciting and musically rewarding than “Close Beauty”. This twelve-track offering falls somewhere between jazz rock,…

SINGULARITY – Place of Chains

Some things just don’t fit together. You can’t put a square peg in a round hole and you can’t put a lipstick on a pig. Apparently, not so with fusion of technical death and neoclassical symphonic black metal, which this Arizonian act makes abundantly clear on their 2nd album, with excellent and highly impressive results.…

AKANDO – Attack from Ambush

Akando’s ten-track offering entitled “Attack from Ambush” is something quite special and different in the sense that it thematizes and revolves around Native American history – and it does so by means of melodic death metal (with a few thrash metal influences thrown into the fiery mix for good measure). Following the atmospheric spoken-word introduction…

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